car insurance

It always strikes me as a bit odd that insurance companies say on the one hand that they do not make any money out of motor insurance in the UK, and yet on the other hand every other television advert is selling motor insurance.

Is it because they are spending all their profits on advertising while chasing the kudos of being the biggest supplier of this product in the UK? Who knows?

It goes without saying that purchasing an insurance product is similar to purchasing anything else in life, invariably you get what you pay for and that is particularly true of motor insurance.

Recent research by the independent financial research company Defaqto shows for instance that only 23% of comprehensive motor policies include a courtesy car as standard, a staggering 49% did not provide one at all and the rest including the courtesy car as an option.

Similarly only 21% of policies provide legal cover for uninsured loss recovery as standard. Again around half of the providers offered this as an option and 28% do not cover this item at all.

So clearly it is not only worth shopping around, but also comparing like for like. Figure what cover you are comfortable with and search for the best quote to cover those needs, but remember if you are involved in an accident and left without a car, the cost of hiring one yourself could easily cost more than having it included in your policy to start with.

Something that you will see if you choose an Aviva car insurance quote, is the ‘Uninsured Driver Promise‘. This is something that I have seen from a few of the top names recently and certainly it is an ‘extra’ that offers peace of mind knowing how many uninsured drivers are on the roads.

In conclusion, it is clear with motor insurance that if you pay a budget price, you get budget cover. If you are happy with that, fine, but remember that if you do have an accident it will most likely cost more than the saving that you have made in your premium.

From TV screens going blank during the game, to volcanic ash disrupting travel, terrorist attacks and freak weather conditions, the risk profession plays a key role when it comes to big tournaments, even though they have provided over £6 billion worth of coverage for the month-long event.

Munich Re estimates the broadcasting rights earned FIFA 2.2 billion Euros for the 2002 and 2006 World Cups. If the event is cancelled, FIFA faces substantial claims by companies who have licensed the media coverage.

Swiss Re Group estimate the cancellation of the event is one of the biggest risks insured, and the Olympics and the World Cup are two of the largest events insured for event cancellation coverage. FIFA alone has purchased $650 million in insurance for total cancellation of the World Cup 2010.

Other risks associated with the World Cup are household damage, increased thefts, player injury and even trauma suffered by fans whose teams have underperformed in the games. Surely something that England fans will not have to endure!

This interesting video gives some background to the huge risks and financial costs that must be considered when taking on the responsibility of staging a global event such as the World Cup 2010.

Hastings Direct and sister brands, Renew, Insure and Likewise are investing in state of the art technology that will help them to seek out and reject the customers who are likely to make a fraudulent claims at point of sale.

Fraudulent claims are said to cost the motor insurance industry £1.9 billion each year and cost the innocent motorist an extra £100 per year on their insurance premium.

A pilot scheme that was set up a couple of months ago by the group, revealed that 15% of potential clients had given incorrect driving licence details, such as using old licences to get around speeding convictions and the like.

Chief executive of Hastings Direct,  Edward Fitzmaurice, says:

“We feel strongly about the fact that honest drivers, who have built up their no-claims bonuses, should not be forced to ‘bail out’ those who are intent on trying to defraud the system.”

AA

Motor insurance has risen at it’s fastest pace in 15 years according to a report from the AA, with the rising cost of personal injury claims and insurance fraud having a major effect on the premiums that we pay.

The average premium quoted for comprehensive motor insurance rose by 5.6% in the last quarter up to September 2009 and has increased by 14% overall in the last twelve months.

The scary part is that insurance companies are still selling motor insurance as a loss leader, hoping to encourage motorists to buy other more profitable insurance products. The industry currently pays out £110 for every £100 taken in premiums and AA Director of Insurance Simon Douglas says that at current levels a rise of 20% would be needed to return the industry to profitability.

The compensation culture that has crossed the Atlantic to the UK in recent years is proving to be a massive burden on motorists in particular as anyone involved in an accident these days is urged to seek a pay out for personal injury, with many companies willing to take up the case on a no win no fee basis.

Personal injury claims reached £9.6bn last year while insurance fraud cost the industry £1.9bn.

The bridegroom Andrew Singh  was sentenced to twelve months, along with parents Graham Singh and Niramella Singh. The family had made the claim against a local transport company, when two of the three coaches they had hired to transport guests to the wedding, were involved in separate accidents.

The Singhs’ had claimed for whiplash injuries but were found out when a wedding day video supplied by the Singhs’ to prove they were on the coach, showed them dancing hours after the accident!

The Singhs’ were ordered to pay court costs of £73,000.

While co-ordinated efforts by the police and insurance companies have seen a drop of 11% in incidents of the scam over the last two years, MORE TH>N claim that levels of awareness have not risen during that time.

They claim that two thirds of motorists would not know if they were a victim of a deliberate or staged accident, while almost a third would not know what to do if they found themselves victims of the scam.

For those unaware of the scam, MORE TH>N describe it as when a criminal gang deliberately cause an accident with an innocent motorist, with the intention of making a false or inflated claim. This is often achieved by shunting the victim from behind or braking late and hard to ensure the victim hits the rear of the offending vehicle. Fraudsters will often have disabled brake lights making it more likely to be hit by a following vehicle.

Motorists who suspect that they have been involved in a staged accident should say nothing at the scene and advise their insurance company of their suspicions. Photo’s of the accident scene, vehicle damage and occupants should be taken if possible.

The warning comes from insurer Aviva, as part of its 2009 Simply Safety campaign and aimed at an agricultural industry that is becoming increasingly diversified as farmers look to increase their income source and respond to new consumer demands.

On average, 46 workers in the agricultural industry are killed each year, with many more injured. Of those deaths 24% are caused by farm vehicles, either knocking workers over or vehicles overturning, with around 17% caused by falling from height. Of the 464 deaths during the past ten years, 26 were children under the age of sixteen.

Phil Grace, Aviva’s liability risk manager offers the following advice to agricultural workers:

“Taking the following steps will help to protect your livelihood, your workers and any other individuals who may be affected by work activity. First, identify any hazards, for example what machinery is being used or whether children are present and could be injured. Then assess the risks and introduce the appropriate controls. Make sure employees have the correct instruction and training to use equipment or carry out their job and identify and provide any protective equipment that is required. This could range from wearing the correct protective equipment when using sheep dips to making sure the floor in a farm shop is clean and safe.”

Carole Nash claims to have already captured around 50% of the Irish motorcycle insurance market from it’s base in Dublin and Commercial director Simon Jackson, insists the opportunities in the Republic are ‘very significant’ with the rapid growth of the internet in the country. Around half the population of the Republic of Ireland having internet access.

Carole Nash have been among the leading insurane companies offering motorcycle insurance in the UK for many years, they are now owned by French insurance company Groupama. The company has managed to increase it’s year on year profits in difficult times, 2008 pre tax profits grew by £1.3million in 2008.

New insurance lines such as helmet and leathers cover and Personal Accident cover have contributed to the increase in profits.

The scam involves fraudsters staging car accidents to swindle claims from insurance companies. The fraudsters themselves are more often than not part of gangs who are involved at various levels of organised crime.

While the reduction in the number of cases has fallen since the IFB/Police initiative, the Chairman of IFB John Beadle has warned that authorities need to keep the crime in check and should continue to clampdown on the fraud to keep these gangs in check.

“The criminal gangs targeting honest motorists are ruthless. Innocent lives are being put at risk and fraudulent insurance claims add approximately £40 to every premium paid by honest policy holders each year. Left unchecked these criminal networks grow rapidly, split and even franchise smaller networks which in turn grow prolifically.”

The IFB have compiled a list of the top twenty ‘hot spots’ for current ‘crash for cash’ crime, noting that Bradford has now taken over from Blackburn for the ‘top’ spot.

Chairman of the Bath based company Richard Rose said that “The group had expanded infrastructure in anticipation of higher business volumes than have materialised”  and that Helphire would be looking to renegotiate it’s banking arrangements and raising a further £50m through share issue.

The company also intends to increase litigation to help claw back money from outstanding claims  and has plans to reduce it’s current workforce of 1,100 by 130.